I got into fitness back in high school, first in body building, running, later in boxing and kickboxing, then focused on racing mostly. Along the way I naturally gravitated to learning about nutrition which of course goes hand in hand with fitness. Controlling weight was always something I struggled with for many years and, like most, proceeded to yo-yo diet with only short lived and frustrating results. Physical activity kept most of the access weight at bay but I was never fully satisfied and couldn’t understand why nothing was working.
Eventually I got my certifications in both personal training and fitness nutrition. It is in the area of nutrition that I found much confusion and misinformation. As I ponder countless literature I’ve read over the years on this subject and draw from my own experience, I can’t help but come to a very concrete bottom line. And as anyone who has ever tried navigating the labyrinths of this rabbit hole, I am sure you can attest that it’s quite a welcoming feat.
Here it is.
If there’s something you tried to eat that everyone says you should eat but it didn’t feel good or didn’t agree with you (meaning you felt bad physically and your fitness goals suffered), then you should stop eating it. At the same time, if there’s something your body particularly likes and makes you function well, that’s what you should eat. No matter what anyone or science (eye roll) says. Yes you read that correctly.
You might say it’s too simplistic. And to that I say this. Every time someone complicates an issue, they’re either lying or they don’t quite understand it yet. Either way, don’t fall for complicated nutritional (macros/micros, calorie counting, etc) programs. Truth is always simple. Nutrition is unique to your body at the cellular level and no one, literally no one can tell you what you should eat and how many calories you should or shouldn’t consume. They don’t know your nutritional needs which depend on hormones, activity level, and metabolism among many other things. As a matter of fact, you shouldn’t tell yourself how many calories you should consume either.
If you have a few hours to kill, try reading about carbohydrates. Do they make you gain weight? Lose weight? Do they cause blood sugar spike? Maybe raise your cholesterol? Insulin spike? How much should I eat? Or not eat? If insulin spikes every time I eat, maybe I shouldn’t eat at all (intermittent fasting proponents keep on pushing that)? One thing’s for sure, there’s no consensus on any of this among the professionals. They hold polar opposite views and defend their positions from their scientific perspective. This topic alone can leave you dazed and confused.
How about fat? Does fat in the food equal fat in the body? Some say yes. Others say the complete opposite. What about CICO (calories in versus calories out)? We’re constantly told by professionals that caloric deficit (where you take in less than you spend) is how you lose weight. No matter what you eat. We’re told it’s the law of thermodynamics and we must obey it. They point to the temporary weight loss as proof. But as anyone who has ever tried this knows, you gain it all back and with interest. People often attribute it to lack of self control. But that’s not how it works. Your body can’t function in a restrictive state and your damaged metabolism (plus hormone imbalance) as a result of semi starvation is largely the reason you pack it all back in. Every. Single. Time.
So here we are. What do we do? Let me again state the simple truth.
If certain foods make you feel good when you eat them (meaning you have energy, health, vitality, physical performance) then that’s what you should eat.
How much? That’s upto you to figure out. Your body has a built in system that works beautifully. When you lack calories you get hungry. When you’ve had enough you feel full. Listen to your body not some arbitrary formula on some app. Don’t delegate the entire process to a nameless faceless program that doesn’t understand your nutritional needs. These apps can help and navigate but if you want to be successful then you need to be responsible for 99% of the process. Only you can determine if your body functions great while eating something or if it feels miserable.
I’ll give you an example. I love bananas. I can eat them every day and I usually do (OMG carbs! The horror!) . My favorite go to before a run is toast with peanut butter and banana. My body loves it and I get great results every time I do this. My energy is right, it feels good in my stomach, I feel light yet satisfied. Just great all around. Now I came to this conclusion after trying many other foods before I ended up settling on this. And the reason is, other foods just didn’t give me all of the above benefits. My husband, on the other hand, hates how bananas feel in his stomach. He likes the taste but not how it feels after he’s consumed it. If he eats this before a run he ends up feeling bloated, nauseous and completely out of sorts. Science tells us great things about bananas. We’re told it’s a great snack to prevent muscle cramping and I can attest to that as I have never cramped during a run or a race. Must be all the bananas! But I digress. Should my husband force it down because science says it’s good for you? Clearly the answer is no.
So let me leave you with some hopefully lasting words of advice. Listen to your body not science (intense eye rolling). Science has been wrong a thousand times (hello who remembers fat free everything?). Trust yourself and your instincts. Don’t eat mindlessly but intuitively. Treat your body with care and put thought into your meals, taking note how they make you feel afterwards. Gather this information and create your own powerful database of individual nutrition that works for you!